Save Money with Grocery Haul

Can you save money during a grocery Haul?

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that I am planning two grocery hauls one at the end of November and the second one at the end of December.

I have a grocery list set on spreadsheet which allows me to know in detail how much of an item I would like to buy and how much it would cost me. To set the spreadsheet, I took few hours to record costs in 3 grocery stores for price comparison which allows me to know where to buy what. I review prices time to time to update my list.

For this grocery haul, I only have $375 to spend. I spent it on specific items at Walmart that are eligible for 25% holiday discount including groceries and some personal items for my husband. In total we purchased items worth $538.36 and paid $421.20. We said $117.16. We purchased grocery items worth $392.54 and paid about $308. We saved about $84. This morning, I went through the receipt and remarked that I was charged for 9 boxes of washing soda instead of 10 boxes. My husband went back today with the receipt to let them know and paid the difference. That brought our total grocery cost to $396.51 and total paid to $311.57. We saved on groceries $84.94. Out of $375 I spent $311.57 and saved $63.43. That, I call saving on grocery haul. I didn’t spent all my saving. I only bought items from my list and didn’t make any impulse buy. I brought my change back home.

I didn’t buy everything I wanted it as I was on a limited budget. I would do another grocery haul in December to buy more items.

Most of the items I bought includes 3-10 lbs. bags sugar, 5 packages of 36 rolls of toilet paper which is for the whole year supply, 5-4 Lbs. spaghetti, 4-5 Lbs. elbow macaroni, 5 Graham Crackers, 5 saltines unsalted, 2 bags of mussels,1 bag of shrimp (shrimp and mussels for the holiday dinner), 1 bag of nuggets (for birthday celebration), 8 boxes of borax, 10 boxes of washing soda, 4 dozen of Ball quart jars, 3 small bags of balloons for birthdays decoration, & 12-56 FL oz coconut oil.

Borax and washing soda are used as laundry detergent. I would talk about my homemade laundry detergent in another post. the coconut oil could be for one year supply. I use it with olive oil to make my homemade soap which we use for shower, to wash hands, dishes and brush teeth from toddler to adults. I make soap with 7 lbs of oil and it lasts for one month.

As you can see, I didn’t buy much. I only bought some key products that have discount on them. I buy these products every month. Since my husband employer has special Thanksgiving discount, I thought I could save some money to just spend my entire monthly budget on those items. I still have few dollars left from the previous month to spend on my weekly purchase of milk and bread. I stocked up in apple, have meat in the freezer, and some grocery items I stocked up the previous months and I think I have enough to cook from my pantry. I could then spend my December and January food budgets to stock up on discounted products for my pantry. My goal is to have one year of food supply. But I am not sure I would be able to do that with my budget.